1997 SPx box

Description

1997 marked the second year Upper Deck issued their SPx brand. Unlike the premiere edition, the 1997 version had three "insert quality" cards in each pack as opposed to only one. All cards feature Upper Deck's "Holoview" technology on a die-cut card. Before the product's release, UD announced that '97 SPx would be the last product to feature Holoviews. The only notable rookie in the 50-card base set is of Jose Cruz, Jr.

Distribution

Boxes of 1997 SPx contain 18 packs of 3 cards each. This product is a hobby exclusive and the MSRP was $5.99/pack.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds
Base	50	-	?
Steel	50	-	1:2
Bronze	50	-	1:4
Silver	50	-	1:7
Gold	50	-	1:17
Grand Finale	50	50	?
Cornerstones of the Game	10	500	?
Bound for Glory	20	1500	?
Bound for Glory Supreme Signatures	5	250	?

Checklist

Base Set

SPX1 Eddie Murray
SPX2 Darin Erstad
SPX3 Tim Salmon
SPX4 Andruw Jones
SPX5 Chipper Jones
SPX6 John Smoltz
SPX7 Greg Maddux
SPX8 Kenny Lofton
SPX9 Roberto Alomar
SPX10 Rafael Palmeiro
SPX11 Brady Anderson
SPX12 Cal Ripken, Jr.
SPX13 Nomar Garciaparra
SPX14 Mo Vaughn
SPX15 Ryne Sandberg
SPX16 Sammy Sosa
SPX17 Frank Thomas
SPX18 Albert Belle
SPX19 Barry Larkin
SPX20 Deion Sanders
SPX21 Manny Ramirez
SPX22 Jim Thome
SPX23 Dante Bichette
SPX24 Andres Galarraga
SPX25 Larry Walker
SPX26 Gary Sheffield
SPX27 Jeff Bagwell
SPX28 Raul Mondesi
SPX29 Hideo Nomo
SPX30 Mike Piazza
SPX31 Paul Molitor
SPX32 Todd Walker
SPX33 Vladimir Guerrero
SPX34 Todd Hundley
SPX35 Andy Pettitte
SPX36 Derek Jeter
SPX37 Jose Canseco
SPX38 Mark McGwire
SPX39 Scott Rolen
SPX40 Ron Gant
SPX41 Ken Caminiti
SPX42 Tony Gwynn
SPX43 Barry Bonds
SPX44 Jay Buhner
SPX45 Ken Griffey, Jr.
SPX46 Alex Rodriguez
SPX47 Jose Cruz, Jr. RC
SPX48 Juan Gonzalez
SPX49 Ivan Rodriguez
SPX50 Roger Clemens

Parallels

All 50 base cards are available in the following parallels.

Steel
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Grand Finale (limited to 50 copies).

To distinguish them from the base cards, all parallels have black-and-white player photos on the back. The Grand Finale's are so named as Upper Deck announced that 1997 SPx would be the final time they would use the "Holoview" technology. Each pack is guaranteed to contain one of the five parallels.

NOTES:

The Steel and Silver parallels look similar. The Steel cards have a holographic background behind both the player's uniform number and the SPx logo; whereas the Silver cards are etched-foil (like the Bronze and Gold parallels). It is believed that cards 25-50 in the Steel parallel were short-printed.

The Gold and Grand Finale cards also look similar. Both cards are printed on gold-colored etched foil. However, the Gold cards all have a silver hologram on the front, while the Grand Finale's have a gold hologram. In addition, despite an announced production run of only 50 copies, the Grand Finale's are NOT serial-numbered.

Inserts

Bound for Glory

Each Bound for Glory card is serial-numbered to 1500 copies.

1 Andruw Jones
2 Chipper Jones
3 Greg Maddux
4 Kenny Lofton
5 Cal Ripken, Jr.
6 Mo Vaughn
7 Frank Thomas
8 Albert Belle
9 Manny Ramirez
10 Gary Sheffield
11 Jeff Bagwell
12 Mike Piazza
13 Derek Jeter
14 Mark McGwire
15 Tony Gwynn
16 Ken Caminiti
17 Barry Bonds
18 Alex Rodriguez
19 Ken Griffey, Jr.
20 Juan Gonzalez

Cornerstones of the Game

Each Cornerstones of the Game card is serial-numbered to 500 copies.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Barry Bonds
2 Frank Thomas / Albert Belle
3 Greg Maddux / Chipper Jones
4 Tony Gwynn / Paul Molitor
5 Vladimir Guerrero / Andruw Jones
6 Jeff Bagwell / Ryne Sandberg
7 Mike Piazza / Ivan Rodriguez
8 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Eddie Murray
9 Mark McGwire / Mo Vaughn
10 Alex Rodriguez / Derek Jeter

Autographs & Game-Used

Bound for Glory Supreme Signatures

Each Bound for Glory Supreme Signature is serial-numbered to 250 copies.

1 Jeff Bagwell
2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
3 Andruw Jones
4 Alex Rodriguez
5 Gary Sheffield